JoeViking245

Use this plugin to filter and import MAME Software Lists into LaunchBox. New - version 6.0 Requires LaunchBox 13.3 or newer* Slightly different look. Same old features. A lot of (behind the scenes) code improvement. This update has been rewritten in .NET 6.0 to “keep up with the times”. *If you’re using LaunchBox version 13.2 or older, download version 4.5 of the plugin. (For now, at least) v4.5 will still work with LaunchBox 13.3 and newer. Features: Import MAME Console/Computer ROMs into a new or existing Platform Import clones as Additional Apps, separately or not at all (Option) Skip Prototypes (Option) Skip Non-Supported ROMs Adds the Platform and Command-line Parameter to the selected MAME emulator (ex. Atari 2600 a2600 -cart) (Option) Copy ROMs to a new folder during importing Imported games tagged as not supported by MAME will be marked as "Broken". (Option) Import only games that exist in your ROMs Source Folder (Option) Ignore games that only have a Title change (when updating) Version information found inside parenthesis in a Games Title will be added to the games "Version" (metadata) Audit Feature: Compare your existing softlist console/Platform against the MAME hash.xml. Will cross check Title and Rom names. - Select the respective hash.xml and Platform - Click Audit (last page) - Any differences along with a brief description will be shown. - Option to select files (if any) and have them removed from your LaunchBox Platform. - Will check main Titles as well as Additional Apps (if you imported them that way). This does NOT check rom integrity. That's between you and Clrmamepro (or related utility). What's needed: (1) dll file included in the zip. MAME Software List hash files (located in the "hash" sub folder of your Mame's main folder) MAME Software List ROMs* and BIOS files (only if you want to actually play them) *The rom set needs to be either a Split set or a Non-Merged set for a full import If you plan to not import clones, any type set will work. What it won't do: Filter/Sort by Region (it's a MAME hash file limitation) Determine if/what BIOS files are needed Import Metadata and Media (just use the built in LaunchBox Tool) To remove extra information from the games titles [Example "(Jpn)"], select Yes, download and replace all existing metadata and media when running the tool.) How to: - Copy the "ImportMameSoftwareLists" folder from the zip file to your ..\LaunchBox\Plugins folder. - Navigate to that folder and unblock the .dll file. (Right click, Properties, and click Unblock) - Start LaunchBox. Click on "Tools" and select "Import MAME Software Lists". - Navigate through the wizard. - After running the plugin, right-click your new platform and select Edit. Set Scrape-as to whatever your platform is and save. Notes: ROM Folder Locations (screen): The Destination Folder is required even if you don't plan to copy the files. It's needed to set up the Application Path for the ROMs when Importing. Copy and/or Import (screen): To add Version info (if it exists in the Games Title) to an existing console (Platform), run the plugin and DO NOT CHECK Ignore games that only have a Title change (when updating) Selecting an emulator: The main intent of this plugin is to import consoles and computers using MAME softlist ROMs and set the games "proper" Title and application path. It will also attempt to add the appropriate Command-line Parameter for the platform in MAME’s Associated Platforms. If you prefer to use an emulator that can load MAME ROMs other than MAME (or a variant there-of), go for it. It’s recommended to select MAME while using the importer, and then change the Default Emulator when done importing. You can select the 'other' emulator in the plugin, and it will be set as the default for the platform. But it will also have the default command line parameters for the associated platform set using MAME parameters. So be sure to adjust as necessary. Importing: (optional) "Import games that only exist in the ROMs Source Folder" If using a Merged softlist set, clones will not get imported using this option. But if you have a curated Split set, this can be handy. (optional) "Ignore games that only have a Title change (when updating)" If you manually renamed your game titles, check this box. Updating: If you’ve updated your MAME emulator and MAME softlist ROMs, simply run the importer and point to the updated hash file and select your existing platform. When updating, this plugin will NOT remove any games from your collection that MAME has removed from the hash file(s). You can use Audit to compare your collection to the MAME hash file and manually remove games from your collection that don't exist in the hash file (if you so desire). Downloading Metadata: After running the plugin, right-click your new platform and select Edit. Set Scrape-as to whatever your platform is and save. When downloading metadata and Media, choose "Yes, download and replace all existing metadata and media". This will remove the Version info from the games Title. After updating the metadata, if some, but not all games got updated, restart LaunchBox and try the bulk metadata downloader again. Auditing: When auditing, if a game originally had the version info in its Title and you have ran the Download Metadata and Media wizard selecting "Yes, download and replace all existing metadata and media", you WILL see games marked as Missing. * MESS xml * Other Notes: (things I've learned) - Software List folder/file locations: - *Associated Platform Command line parameters - MAME and CDROMS